I've never felt so needed . . . or so tired

Little Elliot is going through another rough phase where he just doesn't want to be away from his dad or I. It's really great because we get these beautiful displays of affection that frankly we're just not that used to. The last week or so I've become quite used to being woken up by Elliot climbing into bed with me and giving me a long cuddle or running toward me with a big smile and arms outstretched. Very adorable.

But then there's the downside. It comes about once the sun goes down and is not so adorable. Elliot has decided that he CANNOT be away from us when it's time to sleep. Our usual happy little bedtime routine has screeched to an unhappy halt with Elliot now desperately clutching and crying as we try to put him to bed. He screams with such sadness that we can't bear to leave him for more than a few minutes at a time, and as of tonight we've resorted to sitting in his room until he goes to sleep.

But that's not the end. Our little guy who has always been so good at putting himself back to sleep at night now awakes screaming for us. It's so heart-wrenching that Paul and I have taken turns laying down with him in the guest room the last few nights until he's sound asleep again and we can sneak him back into his crib.

I've spoken to the experts at Ngala today. (They're this amazing free parenting hotline who run a sleep clinic where we did a daystay with Elliot about six months ago. I pretty much love them!) Anyhoo, they've suggested that we make up a bed on the floor in Elliot's room and sleep there with him until he gets through this little phase. We've resorted to this tactic before and it didn't take long before he was sleeping through the night again. Let's hope their great ideas will get us back on the right track soon . . . although I wouldn't mind too much if the adorable cuddles continued.